The invention relates to attachments or implements for scoops or buckets that are commonly used in the handling of particulate materials.
Vehicles equipped with bucket-carrying arms that are power operated to manipulate the bucket for the handling of particulate materials are known. The so-called "front-end loaders" used in loading earth hauling equipment with sand, gravel and landfill are typical examples of equipment that may be modifies through the use of the principles of the invention contemplated herein.
Such loaders, although admirably suited for handling particulate materials, are somewhat less than satisfactory when it comes to clearing land of tree stumps, roots and large rocks, or when it comes to handling other articles such as hay bales that are unable to fit into the bucket of the loader. To better adapt such loaders to the handling of oversized items, various implements have been advocated for use as attachments to the bucket component of the loaders.
Such implements usually take on the form of a tine-type attachment that has a frontal portion located in the front of the bucket and on which the work load is supported in the handling process. These implements are usually supported on the bottom wall of the bucket by means of a structure which overlies the leading edge of the bottom wall and which cooperates with other structures in the attachment in forming a slot or groove in which the leading edge is received. The working load on the front end portion of the implement is counter-balanced by a rear portion that underlies and bears against the bottom wall so that most of such implements are so designed on cantilever principles.
Several methods have been advocated for maintaining the leading edge of the bucket in the slot or groove of the implement. In some cases, the prior art has advocated clamping arrangements that call for some type of structure which serves to clamp the bottom wall between the underlying rear portion of the implement and that structure which overlies the bottom wall of the bucket. Such clamping arrangements loosen during use, permit movements of the implement relative to the bucket, and are generally unsafe and unsatisfactory.
In other cases, the prior art has advocated the use of fasteners that extend through the bottom wall of the bucket so as to mechanically interconnect the attachment structure that overlies and underlies the bottom wall. This approach provides a relatively safely attached structure but it entails the use of considerable effort and time to manually attach the implement to the bucket. The implement, when detached from the bucket, is normally stored in a ground supported position so that the initial step in assembling the bucket and attachment is one of first manipulating the leading edge of the attachment into the groove. Once this is done, the bucket is raised and pivoted around its horizontal pivot axis so that the implement hangs from the leading edge. In this position, the bottom wall underlying structure of the implement is accessible for manipulation by a worker. It will be appreciated that the attachments of the kind contemplated are exceedingly heavy structures which, in such hanging positions, require considerable effort and time in order to align the holes in the bucket wall with the attachment structure for reception of the fasteners. It is also unsafe to manipulate the hanging implements under such circumstances, for the possibility of the structure falling on the operator during the fastening operation is always existent. This approach to fastening such implements to the bucket also has certain other disadvantages in that the holes in the bottom walls of the bucket tend to weaken the walls. These holes also remain after the attachment is removed from the bucket. As such, in the normal use of the bucket, the particulate materials tend to flow through the holes and become scattered in the work areas, a fact which creates unnecessary clean-up problems in many instances.
Yet another method which has been advocated for securing the cantilever type structures to the bucket is to use flexible members, such as chains, wire ropes the the like, and which are fastened to the bucket wall underlying structure of the implement at one end, and at the other end to a hook or similar device that fits over an edge of the top wall of the bucket. This approach to the implement fastening problem usually entails tha use of an overcenter arm or turn-buckle type device for adjusting the overall length of the fastener. Such approaches avoid the need for lifting the bucket and implement in order to secure the latter to the former, and less effort is usually involved in the fastening procedure as compared to those situations where metal fasteners that penetrate the bucket wall are utilized. However, it is usually difficult with such structures to provide a taunt connection and as such, movement of the attachment relative to the bucket is frequently encountered in use. This causes wear of parts and lacks the securely fixed structural arrangements that instills confidence in operators who must rely on the integrity of such fastening means for their personal safety. Apart from the above, the overcenter tightening devices can be inadvertently released through encounters with limbs, etcetera during use of the implements.